1. The most often asked questions

“What’s one of your greatest accomplishments?”

« tell me about you »

“Why do you want to work at our company?”

Sample Questions Asked by Employers

Personal Assessment

• Tell me about yourself.
• What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
• What have oud one that shows initiative and willingness to work ?
• How do you react to criticism?
• How would your best friend describe you?
• Describe your ideal job.
• Define success. Define failure.
• What can you offer us?
• Who are your role models? Why?
• What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
• What kind of people do you enjoy working with?
• What motivates you in a job?
• What types of people are difficult for you to work with?
• What frustrates you? (makes you angry?)
• Are you a joiner or a loner? A leader or follower? A committee member or an executive?
• How do you spend your spare time? What are your hobbies?
• Have you ever spoken in front of a group of people? How large?
• Tell me about a leadership role you have had. What makes a good leader?
• Where do you want to be in five years? Ten years?

Education and Experience

• Can you summarize your educational background for me?
• Why did you decide to attend school at XYZ?
• What part of your education did you find the most rewarding?
• Why did you choose the major you did?
• What courses did you like the most? The least?
• Describe for me the most rewarding accomplishment since you’ve started college.
• Describe your study habits. How do you balance study with personal life?
• In which campus activities did you participate?
• What job-related skills have you developed?
• How do you spend college vacations?
• What extracurricular activities are you involved in? What have you gained from those experiences?
• Have you plans for furthering your education?
• If you could start college over, what would you do differently?
• Tell me about a class in which you were part of a study group. What role did you play?
• Did you work while going to school? In what positions?
• Tell me about the most satisfying job you ever held. The least?
• Have you had any work experience related to this position?
• What kind of boss do you prefer?
• What kind of work interests you the most?
• Have you had any supervisory experience?
• What frustrates you on the job?
• Have you ever quit a job? Why?
• Give an example of a situation where you provided a solution to an employer.
• Give an example of a time when you worked under deadline pressure.
• Have you ever done any volunteer work? What kind?
• How would a former supervisor describe your work?
• Describe a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty to get the job done.
• Describe a time when a team member came to you for help. What was the situation? How did you respond?

Career Ambition and Plans

• Why did you choose this career field?
• What type of position are you looking for?
• What are your long-range and short-range goals and objectives; when and why did you establish these goals; how are you preparing to achieve them?
• What specific goals, other than those related to your occupation, have you established for yourself in the next five years?
• What qualities does a successful manager possess? … does a successful team player possess?
• What do you know about opportunities in your field?
• What are the most important rewards you expect from your career?
• What kind of challenge are you looking for?
• What do you think determines a person’s progress in a good company?
• How do you determine or evaluate success?
• What are your ideas on salary?
• How much money do you hope to earn five years from now?
• What personal characteristics are necessary for success in your field?
• Do you prefer to work on your own or under a supervisor?

Company or Organization 

• Why do you want to work for this organization?
• What do you know about our organization?
• What section (service or product) are you most interested in?
• Do you prefer large or small companies? Why?
• How do you feel about working in a structured environment? A non-structured environment?
• What do you think it takes to be successful in a company such as ours?
• In what ways do you think you can make a contribution to our company?
• How long would you expect to work here?
• Are you willing to work overtime?
• Are you willing to work flextime?
• Are you willing to go where the company sends you?
• What type of work environment are you most comfortable with?
• Why do you think you might like to live in the community in which our company is located?
• Why should I hire you?
• What makes you the best person for this job?

The Close

• When could you start work?
• Is there anything else I should know about you?
• Do you have any other questions?

Examples of Behavioral Questions

Behavioral questions can be difficult if you are not prepared. Always try to be conscious about what the recruiter is trying to find out about you. Setting up a mock interview is an excellent way to practice. Here are some examples: 

• Tell me about an accomplishment of which you are especially proud. •
• What kind of work experience has been the most valuable to you and why?
• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with someone whose personality was different from yours.
• Give me a time where you had to carry out a directive you did not agree with.
• Describe a time when it was especially important to make a good impression on a customer/teacher/etc. How did you go about doing so?
• Describe a time when you saw a problem and took action to correct it rather than waiting for someone else to do so.
• Tell me about your most successful presentation and what made it so.
• Tell me about a meeting where you provided technical expertise. How did you ensure that everyone understood?
• Tell me about a time when there was a conflict in a job/ lab/class project. How did you handle it?
• Describe a time when you took a risk that you later regretted.
• Describe a time when you took a risk and were glad you did.
• Who or what has had the greatest influence in the development of your career interest? What were the biggest challenges/problems you encountered in college? How did you handle them?
• Talk about a time when you had trouble getting along with a professor/co-worker/supervisor. How did you handle it?
• What was the toughest academic decision you have had to make? How did you make that decision?
• How are you conducting your job search and how will you go about making your decision?
• What types of situations put you under pressure and how do you handle them?
• What is the most important lesson you have learned in or out of school?
• Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.
• Describe an instance when you had to think on your feet to extricate yourself from a difficult situation.
• Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
• By providing examples, convince me that you can adapt to a wide variety of people, situations and environments.
• Describe an experience when you were faced with problems or stresses that tested your coping skills.
• Give me an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
• Tell me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across.
• Give me an example of an important goal that you had set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
• Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).

Tough questions

1. Take me through a time when you took a project or product from start to finish.
2. Describe the way that you work under tight deadlines.
3. Describe how you work under tough managers.
4. What’s your definition of working too hard?
5. Persuade me to move to your city.
6. How do you manage stress?
7. What kinds of opportunities have you created for yourself in your current position?
8. In a team environment, are you a motivator, player, leader, or enthusiast?
9. In the past 3 years, what part of your professional skill set have you improved the most?
10. If you were a new employee, what would you do to gain respect from peers in 30, 60, or 90 days?
11. Tell me about a time when you really failed.

Source: ‘You’re sitting in a conference room, waiting for a much-anticipated job interview’, Fast Company, June 2000.

And here are a few more resources to thoroughly prepare for your next job interview:

https://www.linkedin.com/business/10 unexpected-interview-questions-to-get-unrehearsed-answers

Indeed- tough-interview-questions-and-answers

watch the YouTube video to learn how to answer the question: tell me about yourself

as well as what is your greatest weakness?

and for a wealth of other questions: YouTube hashtag/interviewquestionsandanswers